We are dying inside because we fail to value the mystery and hiddenness of the soul.

"In our times, the language of psychology is used to approach the soul. Psychology is a wonderful science, but in our culture of sensate immediacy, much psychology has abandoned the fecundity and reverence of myth and stands under the strain of neon consciousness, powerless to retrieve or open the depth and density of the world of soul. Celtic mysticism recognizes that rather than trying to expose the soul or offer it our fragile care, we should let the soul find us and care for us. Celtic mysticism is tender and devoid of spiritual aggression . . . 

"Ironically, our false sense of familiarity often militates against our homecoming to our soul. When we are familiar with something, we lose the energy, edge, and excitement of it. Hegel said, 'Generally, the familiar, precisely because it is familiar, is not known.' This is a powerful sentence. People have difficulty awakening to their inner world especially when their lives have become overly familiar to them. They find it hard to discover something new, interesting, or adventurous in their numbed lives. Consequently, there is great strangeness in the shadowed light of our soul world. We should become more conversant with our reserved soul-light. The first step in awakening to your inner life and to the depth and promise of your solitude would be to consider yourself for a little while as a stranger to your own deepest depths. To decide to view yourself as a complete stranger, someone who has just stepped ashore in your life, is a liberating exercise. This meditation helps to break the numbing stranglehold of complacency and familiarity. Gradually, you begin to sense the mystery and magic of yourself."

John O'Donohue,
"Anam Cara"

Photos: Blue ice caverns on Lake Haiyaha, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, March 16, 2015